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How Automation can Robust your B2B eCommerce Business

Posted on December 11, 2020 by Jay

A strong relationship with partners and customers is critical for B2B businesses. This needs to be reflected in the successful B2B eCommerce strategies.

Nowadays, the B2B eCommerce model moved beyond from just transactions to putting more emphasis on relationships and automated ordering systems.

With these relationship-centered B2B eCommerce models businesses are reducing their spending efforts on low-value tasks and focusing on Extended interaction with long-term business trends, multi-party deals, and on more complex transactions.

This new model has made numerous impacts on the eCommerce business. In fact, some of the techno giants are saying B2B is surpassing the B2C.

What is B2B eCommerce

Well, B2B eCommerce is the typical exchange of products and services between 2 different businesses or companies through the electronic platform. Or you can say, buying and selling the products on the web as the exchange media.

B2B eCommerce business is not limited just limited to selling and buying. It may cover many aspects like;

Business Relationship between 2 companies
Product information and research
Technical learning
Product Ordering & Tracking
Technical Support, Training and Services
Document exchange like User guide, etc

So, technically it brings a lot of value to this process.

Now see, where the “Automation” term is fitting in this process.

B2B eCommerce Automation

What comes first to your mind when someone says “Automation”? In general, it sounds like robots are assembling cars somewhere in factories. But in B2B eCommerce it is not an artificial intelligence SKY-Net-like program.

The “Automation” in B2B e-commerce context is the use of a computer programmed software tool to complete the tasks without human intervention.

Automation spot the patterns in data and make the decision in a fraction of a second.

Now come to the basic topic of this article. How this Automation can help the eCommerce business for a better result?

Benefits of B2B Automation

Let’s go through the five ways that automation can improve your B2B eCommerce business today.

Reduce Errors:

The manual data processing always makes a tiny glitch and these small errors can cost millions in a year.

Just an example: If a B2B seller would make a misenter in an amount at the time of creating purchasing orders, it can cause chaos for both.

To avoid such types of errors you can integrate an automation layer to your eCommerce Application.

So, the orders can be created and communicated without any risk of human errors or even without human introversion.

Basically, no manual intervention is necessary when the electronically generated documents are passed back and forth between seller and buyer.

Get rid of Workflow Friction:

In B2B eCommerce workflow, a great deal of friction is generated that involves manual moving of information from one end to another.

By the intervention of an automated eCommerce cart management system with the inclusion of invoicing programs can make the progress much smoother.

So, the waiting could be over for a work process like open, read and respond to the email, etc.

As both the buyer and sellers waste their time in moving the information between the system and associated people, an automated system can help them to do it faster.

Better Relationships With Customers

Business to Business buyers are decently becoming more enthusiastic about the benefits of integration and automation.

The integration of Automation creates a more intuitive and easier purchasing experience for buyers with automated catalogs.

Image Source: FreePik

Relying on automated platforms, it is significantly more effective when B2B sellers offer a straightforward path to data exchanges such as order confirmations, purchase orders, shipping notifications, and invoices.

Get Paid Faster

With a manual workflow, the B2B sellers process invoices manually. A dedicated resource creates invoices manually and emails those to the buyers.

And on the buyer side, whoever is responsible gets around to opening the email manually, and getting approval for paying.

Image Source: FreePik

Whereas in the automated system invoices can be created and delivered automatically.

As a result, the buyers opt to pay automatically, and for the invoices, those are required oversight, the right person will see it and react more quickly.

Focus On What Matters for You

Somehow, people worry that automation is taking place in some jobs, and there is a kernel of truth in that.

The automation system will replace some human roles, but it will also encourage us to focus on what matters most for us and for our business betterment.

For example: The automation system will allow the salespersons to focus more on sales and upbringing new business rather than getting stuck in time and paper.

This will definitely reduce the cost while increasing revenue.

Conclusion

There could be many ways that workflow automation helps your B2B business right now. But the proper planning and execution of the strategies can make your eCommerce website a winner.

The eCommerce application development planning is not much exhausting work, but it requires proper knowledge and customer satisfaction points.

You should develop an appropriate site for online business in which users can easily manage their shopping items and place orders.

For a prosperous future of B2B eCommerce, businesses must have to work with the technology and data firms.

How To Build An eCommerce Marketing Plan?

Posted on April 18, 2020 by Nicol Garrison

Running an eCommerce website means you’re fighting for your piece of the market with some seriously strong competitors. Regardless of what you’re selling, you’re bound to face the competition and realize you need to up your game if you want to stand out. This is why you need to invest your efforts in developing a strong marketing plan.

Your marketing plan will help you achieve your goals. You’ll be able to raise brand awareness, increase sales, and earn your place on the market. If you’re not sure how to write a marketing plan for your eCommerce, just keep reading.

We’ll walk you through each step.

Source: Pexels

1. Analyze Your Competitors

The first thing you need to do before you start developing your marketing strategy is to detect your biggest competition.
You’re not doing this to copy what they’re doing. On the contrary. You’re doing this to be able to stand out from them.

So, make sure that you:

analyze the market
detect your direct competition
analyze their marketing efforts, strategies, customer relationship, and tools they’re using

Once you do this, you’ll be able to see a pattern and think outside the box to avoid becoming just another eCommerce.

2. Use Content Marketing

Content Marketing is the building block of your marketing strategy. Content marketing is about creating useful, informative, or entertaining content to draw attention to your brand.

The key steps of content marketing are the following:

Keyword Research

Find specific keywords your target audience might be interested in. Choose those that are easy to rank and avoid general keywords.

Content Creation & Blogging

A blog is the center of your content marketing strategy. There, you’ll publish blog posts covering topics your target audience is interested in. Your blog posts need to; answer questions, solve problems, provide guidance, inform, teach, provide value, cover trending topics.

Promoting Your Content

Your blog is not the only place where you promote your content. Use social media such as Instagram and Facebook to further boost your content engagement.

Content marketing will help you raise brand awareness and reach those people who don’t even know your eCommerce exists.

3. Use Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the oldest, yet most effective marketing strategies.

Email marketing gives you a chance to connect to your current and potential customers and make sure they become loyal to your brand.

Using email marketing, you can send emails such as:

Welcome emails
abandoned cart reminder
special offer note
coupons
birthday cards and discounts
sale notifications
recommended products that just arrived

Email marketing is closely related to personalization since you’ll be using personalized data about each customer to create those special offers and specific emails.

Source: Gmail printscreen

4. Use Instagram Product Tagging

Did you know that Instagram has more than 1 billion active users globally? This social media platform is absolutely essential for your eCommerce marketing and here’s why.

Instagram offers you the option of using product tagging. It’s a quick and effective way to get your customers from your social media post to your website and a shopping bag.

Here’s how it works:

you post an image of your products on Instagram
you tag each product on the image
the tag shows the name of the product as well as the price
if the customer is interested in buying, all the have to do is click the tag
the tag takes them directly to the product they choose, on your eCommerce website

They don’t have to search for it and waste time during which they might even give up on the sale.

Instagram product tagging is a brilliant strategy you need to use.

5. Use Videos

Videos are an extremely popular form of content. This is because more and more people are instantly bored when they see huge chunks of text and like to be provided with this form of instant information that videos offer.

You can create different types of videos, test them, and see what resonates best with your audience. We strongly recommend:

product videos showing how a product is used
how-to-videos giving advice on how to use the product properly
interviews with influencers or experts in your niche
“behind the scene” videos showing your offices, team members, or the process of creating a product
educational videos providing information your target audience might be interested in

“Videos are great because they are visual, entertaining, and attention-grabbing. Every eCommerce should invest in creating videos as one of the primary forms of content they share,” says Daniel Faber, a digital marketing specialist and writer at Studicus.

Share your videos on your blog, IGTV, YouTube Channel and all the other platforms you’re using.

6. Show Product Reviews

It’s one thing when you promote your brand, but it’s a whole other thing when your customers do it for you.

People who are shopping online like to check how other customers felt about the product before they make the purchase. In fact, nearly 95%of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase.

This is why you need to ensure you have other people:

leaving reviews
leaving comments
leaving images of the product they’ve received

Source: Romwe

This way, you’ll encourage other customers to trust your eCommerce and go on with their initial shopping intentions.

Final Thoughts

Building an eCommerce marketing plan requires doing proper market analysis, and using several different strategies and tools. With some effort and dedication, you’ll be able to create a unique and effective marketing plan for your eCommerce.
Use the advice provided above and start working on your new marketing plan.

Ecommerce Trends To Watch In The Mid Of 2018

Posted on June 22, 2018 by Jay

With the hasty growth in eCommerce, online shopping has also changed a lot. The growth of global eCommerce is mind-boggling. There are lots of changes and development has come out in the eCommerce sector in the last couple of years.

The year 2017 had great for eCommerce and in 2018 it is also proceeding with a great level. In 2017 it reached around $2.3 trillion and is expected to hit $4.5 trillion in 2021. In the USA it’s growing 15% more each year compared to retail sales.

(Source: shopify.in)

Now a day’s shoppers are no longer wants to go to the nearest store; they grab the nearest digital device. The online retail ecosystem is fast evolving. It’s not the purchasing habit they are doing digitally but the retail experience has changed a lot.

Before buying any product buyers are reviewing these products online at their home and eCommerce store are plying as a personal assistant for them.

If you will do some research on global eCommerce markets, China is coming on the top with the highest billion USD. Let’s have a look at the top global eCommerce market

(Source: shopify.in)

The global eCommerce sales are expected to increase 246.15% by 2021, from 1.3 trillion in 2014 to 4.5 trillion in 2021. The industry is booming and there is no sign of any fall in the near future. E-commerce stores with excellent digital eCommerce facility can reach your target customers.

According to the market demand you need to reach your target customer to generate more revenue. To make these things easier here I am going to share the top eCommerce trends which are dominating the market in the mid of 2018.

1. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

With AR and VR, buyers are able to visually testing out products before purchase. AR and VR are also helping companies to keep their buyers in website and apps more than the longer time.

Consumers are also going to buy from companies that allow them the option of visually testing out products before purchase.

According to Ross Beyeler, founder of eCommerce consultancy Growth Spark,

“We’ll see AR and VR become not just part of the in-store experience for customers, but part of the packaging experience with QR codes triggering ‘enhanced experiences’ of products, and even packaging itself being repurposed as a throw-away AR ‘device’,” he argues. “These sorts of experiences could particularly expand on the ‘try before you buy’ viewing of products in-home.”

2. Automation

Automation has become the most effective way to catch online consumers to sell product and maximize revenue. According to Rachel Jacobs “Why to spend precious time on manual tasks that deliver no tangible ROI, when you could use an automation tool to take care of it for you?” She says “As more and more eCommerce merchants turn to social media to drive traffic and sales, it makes sense to automate the process as much as possible.”

3. Voice Search

Now a day’s voice search has become the best-preferred alternative of search. More than 40% of millennials are already using voice search before any online purchase. Voice search has become 3X time more local for users. So it’s very necessary to list your business on Google to come in the local search.

“Voice will gain more prominence in 2018 as voice assistants such as Google Assistant and Alexa become commonplace,” predicts Mari Corella- a fashion and beauty eCommerce specialist.

4. Mobile First

The percentages of mobile users are growing day by day and the mobile purchase is also growing. So it’s important to create your eCommerce website and app 100% mobile friendly to grab more visitors.

Statistics show that 40% of users will go to the competitor after a bad mobile experience, yet an alarming 84% have experienced difficulty completing a mobile transaction. That is an incredibly high number, and it shows just how great the opportunity is for companies to capitalize on consumer conversion just by creating mobile responsive and user-friendly websites.

Let’s have a quick look on the eCommerce Mobile Stats,

125 Million U.S. consumers own smartphones
50 million U.S. Consumers own tablets
62% of Smartphone users have made a purchase online using their mobile device in the last 6 months
One-third of all eCommerce purchases during the 2015 holiday season was made on a Smartphone.
ECommerce dollars now comprise 10% of ALL retail revenue
80% of shoppers used a mobile phone inside a physical store to look up product reviews, compare prices or find alternative store locations
An estimated 10 Billion Mobile Connected Devices are currently in use

Ignoring these trends in mobile eCommerce evolution means potentially missing out on more and more profit as these trends continue.

(Source: outerboxdesign.com)

5. High-Quality Product Images and Videos:

Your eCommerce website can be more user-friendly with high-quality content, images, and videos. 360-degree images of product models can give clear information to visitors and helps to keep visitors more time on your website.

High-quality videos showcase your products real context, features and motivate users to buy. More than 80% of online users are converting to consumers through videos.

6. Machine Learning

Machine learning another big trend in eCommerce and it is similar to automation. With machine learning, you will not only save your time in automation but also you can take better decision to convert more visitors to the customer.

According to Jason Stokes, CEO of Eastside Co, “E-commerce traffic is still dictated by search, but that the ways we can search are changing — another opportunity for automation and machine learning.

7. SaaS eCommerce Platforms

SaaS eCommerce platforms are continuously updating their products and adding new features to keep their consumers or subscribers much productive in the competitive market. SaaS maintain speed and stable cloud on-premise system. So be hurry to make a move if you are not using any SaaS eCommerce platform for your business because the benefit of SaaS is more productive for the business.

8. Easier Checkout

Now the current payment options like Android Pay, Apple Pay, PayPal, and others are providing quality and quick transactional checkout comparing to the traditional payment options. So make your website more compatible with web and mobile user-friendly and make sure to minimize the checkout process for the quick transaction.

9. Web Performance

E-commerce website performance or user experience is the most important factor to stay ahead of the competition. The performance of the website always matter for users because a website with high performance can bring more customers but few milliseconds issues can lose customers for your competitors.

Various performance checking and improvement tools for websites are available in the market you can take the help of these to know and maximize the web performance.

10. Social Shopping

All we know that social media plays a great role to reach your target market and social shopping has a massive impact on eCommerce business in this present time.

Social media platform like Pinterest and Instagram are two highly visual platforms where merchants can bring their products in front of the huge number of the customer. In 2018, social media has become the perfect landscape in which retailers can create a buying scenario by showcasing their products on apps that customers spend most of their time with.

11. B2B E-commerce

B2B eCommerce is the fast-growing e-commerce trend and firms are spending more on technology comparing to online retails. According to the source, by 2019, B2B firms will spend more on eCommerce technology than online retailers do. The US B2B e-commerce market could reach $1.1T and account for 12.1% of all B2B sales by 2020, and over $6 Trillion worldwide. The average age of a B2B buyer/researcher is now under 35 years old. 89% of buyers search online in a B2B purchase process, with 74% doing so for more than 50% of their purchases.

(Source: datorama.com)

Over To You

Over the years eCommerce trends are continuously gearing up for better user engagement and retention. As an eCommerce business owner, you need to update your business according to the new market trends to stay ahead of the competition. Hope these trends will help you in the development of your business in the mid of 2018. Appreciate if you share your thoughts with comments.

From the last ten years, Andolasoft is consistently providing eCommerce solutions and we have a good name and reputation in the eCommerce world. Let’s discuss more of our service according to your requirements.

Are you looking to develop eCommerce website or app for your business? Let’s Discuss!

The Next Generation of eCommerce

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Lori H Morrisis

Amazon celebrated its birthday on July 5, 2017. The conglomerate already commands 37 per cent of the eCommerce market according to recent projections. And will be responsible for half of all the online sales within 3 years.

Taking these numbers into consideration, it’s easy to forget that both Amazon and eCommerce are still in their infancy in the grand scheme of things.

In spite of the futuristic advances such as the new drone service and 2-hour delivery, success in the long run starts with an understanding of the potential points of friction and fundamental market opportunities.

What does the future of eCommerce hold for 2018 and beyond? The answer is in the following trends:

eCommerce is enjoying growth, but represents just 9.1% of retail sales

The market share of eCommerce in Q3 2017 expressed as a percentage of the overall retail sales has grown to 9.1% according to the U.S. census bureau, which is up from 3.5% just one decade ago.

However, brick and mortar businesses are still dominant, and by a huge margin. The quick growth coupled with a low market share means that the opportunity still exists for new players to outpace the leaders in the industry.

High-growth businesses should find ways to enjoy success in business and life. Companies that wish to capitalize on this trend also need to focus on optimizing the in-store experiences for customers in conjunction with the eCommerce expressions.

B2B eCommerce dwarfs B2C eCommerce by more than $2 Trillion

You might not have already made an investment in your own eCommerce wholesale channel, but you have probably considered it. The B2B eCommerce numbers speak for themselves after all. Statista estimates that the gross merchandise volume of B2B eCommerce transactions in 2017 is projected to equal $7.66 trillion up from 2013’s $5.83 trillion.

The difference in growth is almost equal to the whole amount of projected transactions in business-to-consumer transactions in 2017 at $2.143. The average conversion rate of business-to-business survey respondents was 10%, which is more than 3 times higher than the 3 percent average that B2C eCommerce executives reported.

The opportunity naturally comes with its own challenges. All B2B eCommerce buyers are also potential B2C eCommerce shoppers. Having shopped at Amazon, they are also likely to be conditioned to desire a similar experience i.e. streamlined, direct, and fast operations without any resistance between search and checkout. They are likely to prefer buying at the website and not via a sales representative.

It is mandatory to experiment with self-service B2B eCommerce.

eCommerce Automation is an Attainable Reality for Businesses

Would you tell anybody if your business had a secret formula to reducing costs, saving time, and selling more? Marketing automation was that secret a decade ago. Enterprises such as Costco, Walmart, and Amazon, which had resources for research and development on a large scale leveraged its power to build empires.

Automation is an emerging new secret for the future of eCommerce. For starters, no eCommerce platform offers comprehensive automation as an accessible feature. Firms that are automating have either created custom in-house processes at a great financial cost, or assembled mix-and-match workarounds using third-party applications.

No platform has unleashed eCommerce automation until now:

1. Shopify Scripts

With Shopify Scripts, you can add relevant payment options, automatic discounts, and specialized shipping options to ensure that each customer has a customized checkout experience. Scripts provide enhanced control over the customer’s cart and helps optimize closest to the money.

2. Launch pad

Launchpad acts as the command center for major commerce events such as special celebrations, product releases, and flash sales. Schedule everything on the to-do list long before the arrival of big days and take the heavy-lifting and guesswork out of driving revenue to the store.

3. Shopify Flow

Shopify Flow refers to a 3-step visual builder that makes automation for any back-office or customer-facing process that you can imagine possible. By specifying actions, conditions, and triggers, you can create your own processes or even download and then install a growing number of per-made workflows without the need to code.

The biggest Challenge for eCommerce is Fragmentation

The accessibility of digital has made it possible for consumers to enjoy access to increased buying opportunities than previously. Phones now provide users with immediate access to numerous retailers. For the big-ticket items, it means an exponential increase i.e. touch points.

The lower-cost products hardly ever takes 3 months of research, but just about all the online buyers currently follow the same, meandering path. If you are a large company, this can scare you since niche boutiques are uniquely positioned to enjoy increased market share. If you are a smaller company, the lower barriers to market entry and growth will excite you.

Irrespective of where you sit on the fence between a dominant player in the industry and a startup, there is always an opportunity to win as well as an opportunity to lose.

International eCommerce is Still Mostly Untapped

1.4 billion People are likely to join the middle class in the world by 2020 according to McKinsey.

85 of these people will be in the Asia Pacific region. Retailers that enter this space early enough are likely to gain competitive advantage when it comes to meeting market demand.

For example, the William Wrigley Jr. Company, which is a leading manufacturer of chewing gum, has already gained 40% market share in China. eCommerce as a whole is actually likely to shift away from the West too in the future.

Why?

Every country introduces a new set of market preferences, constraints, and security challenges. Take a country such as a Nigeria for example, where U.S. eCommerce products might be in high demand but fulfilling this demand is highly risky.

You shouldn’t just avoid these global opportunities. A better idea would be to find a trusted partner and creative workaround. For example, Mall for Africa is a service that helps UK and US eCommerce companies reduce the stress and risk associated with selling into Africa because of fraud.

The company has managed to create distribution points in key locations to make sure that goods can be accessed even in somewhat remote locations and depends on rigorous and multi-level security systems to protect data and identities and even identify any unusual purchases.

The company has helped lower the risk and allowed brands such as Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch, Brooks Brothers, and J. Crew entry into African markets where they are in high demand.

Double down on the global eCommerce markets and ensure that infrastructure such as the international warehouses and global fulfillment partner is ready to handle it.

Mobile might be the norm now, but it adds complexities to purchases

You have probably witnessed mobile traffic outpacing or at least coming close to your desktop traffic levels in the past year. In the most recent Black Friday and Cyber Monday saw Shopify, mobile sales accounted for 59.6% of overall number of orders and 64% of the Black Friday sales specifically, which represents a growth of 10 percent year-over-year.

Native social selling is finally producing results

Selling directly on social media might still be in its experimental stage, but the results are in!

Instagram will have more than 1 billion monthly active users by the time you read this. Flurry estimates that the average adult spends about 5 hours daily on their devices and over half the time is spent on messaging, social, entertainment and media applications.

A good percentage of them are translating into sales with about 18.2% of respondents to the September 2016 survey reporting to have purchased products via social media directly. More are likely to buy in the future because the early adopters help vet and validate the experience.

MVMT Watches has already enjoyed some success with social selling. The brand generated $15,000 in revenue and 1,500 people visited their Facebook in a week. The brand director of brand and retention marketing, Blake Pinsker says that the brand’s mobile conversion rate was more than double once people became comfortable with the idea of buying from their phones. Blake says that the brand believes that its growth on its Facebook shop is almost the same as people familiarize themselves with the platform.

The Holy Grail of eCommerce engagement is content

Great content is helpful, educational, and entertaining. It is cost-effective and impact to ROI as a marketing strategy. It is the reason why 78% of CMOs believe custom content is the future of marketing. In addition, brands that depend on content usually save more than $14 on every customer you acquire.

Hypothetically, content is something companies can create as soon as the next day. Creating a product guide or launching a blog requires minimal resources. However, it is important to be strategic and thoughtful about your approach: the attention spans of consumers are spread thin and audiences have high-quality standards when it comes to what they read, watch, and interact with.

Some Final Words…

It is no longer “business as usual.” eCommerce leaders now have a world of opportunity to evolve and adapt, with success emanating from a series of small steps.

Except the web and mobile app development, Andolasoft has its own shopping cart (JuggernautCart) with digital products and serving others in building their own shopping carts. JuggernautCart is the most affordable shopping cart to sell your digital products or assets like eBooks, add-ons, podcasts, images, videos and many more and you can customize and use these according to your need.